The inaugural BBC Green Sport Awards intend to recognise organisations and athletes who use their respective sport to help raise climate awareness. Five categories are included, with the Young Athlete of the Year and Ambition & Impact Awards featuring nominees from the world of motorsport: Ellis Spiezia is in the running for the former, while Extreme E and McLaren Racing are on the latter’s shortlist.
Spiezia is a sixteen-year-old who competes in the ERA Championship, an electric open-wheel junior series. He won the pole for the inaugural race at Circuit Zolder in July and finished fourth in what would be the championship’s lone event of 2022 as multiple dates were called off due to logistical troubles. The American is a major advocate for electric motorsport, partly owing to his longtime interest in sim racing, and many of the real-life disciplines he competes in are electrically powered. In 2021, he finished runner-up for the first Project E20 Euro Trophy, an electric karting series.
“I am excited and honored to be one of five nominees for the BBC Green Sport Awards Young Athlete of the Year,” posted Spiezia on social media. “Being an advocate and ambassador for climate action through electric motorsport is my passion. We’ll see who wins at the Sport Positive Summit next week. (I’m a racing driver— you know I love a competition!)”
Spiezia will be competing with cricketer Joe Cooke, table tennis player Anna Hursey, fellow American and Major League Soccer defender Zoe Morse, and Norwegian midfielder Morten Thorsby.
Extreme E is probably a very unsurprising candidate for an award focused on green sport. Now in its second season, the electric off-road series has been open about promoting environmental awareness with Legacy Programmes at each round and desire to leave as little of a footprint as possible with races in remote locations and few attendees.